Akshay Kumar created some buzz last week when he announced that Padman, his home production, will hit the box office on Republic Day, 2018. Since Rajnikanth and Akshay Kumar starrer mega-budget sci-fi, 2.0, was already scheduled to release on the 25^th of January, the announcement left people wondering why the star would want two of his own films to compete on the box office.

In an interview with a leading daily, Akshay opened up about the controversy surrounding the release dates of both these films. On being asked whether releasing both the movies around the same date was a wise decision, the star clarified saying, "There is a lot of false information that is being circulated over both films releasing on the same day. Why would I clash with my own film? It will be either Padman or 2.0." He also explained his decision of releasing Padman on Republic Day with the following statements. "I am certainly having a release on Republic Day because if I don't do it, there are many others who are waiting in line. So I might as well take advantage."

There were rumours suggesting that Rajini's film will be pushed to a later date since the team wasn’t finished with the special effects in the film. But Lyca Productions promptly issued a statement asserting that Rajini would keep his date with the fans.

On being questioned about the delay in the release of 2.0, Akshay diplomatically responded by saying, "While Padman is a film that I have produced, 2.0 belongs to Shankar, Rajinikanth and Lyca Productions. They will decide whether they want to release the film on Republic Day. If they do, I will postpone Padman and if they don't, I will go ahead."

2.0 is being released in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu and is one of 2018’s biggest releases. The movie serves as a sequel to the 2010 Tamil film Enthiran and has been shot on an estimated budget of Rs 450 crores.